Scientists' rebellion to cripple synchrotron beam

Carmel Egan

SCIENTISTS angry at the State Government's refusal to intervene in a crippling management dispute at the Australian Synchchrotron will work to rule from tomorrow morning, effectively bringing the prestigious facility to its knees.

Professor Frank Larkins, chair of the synchrotron's powerful international scientific advisory committee, has told The Sunday Age the situation is untenable and has called for board members to be removed.

The work bans will disrupt experiments, with key scientific staff and engineers only working nine to five at the centre, which is booked 24 hours a day, often months in advance.

Insiders say the work bans will cause chaos, delays and backlogs, further damaging the $200 million facility's once-esteemed international standing.

''The present situation is untenable,'' said Professor Larkins, one of Victoria's most senior scientists.

''No sustainable solution will now be found until there are changes at board level,'' he warned, adding that Premier John Brumby and State Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings ''are the only persons who can now solve the impasse''.

Advertisement

The unprecedented industrial action is a blow to Mr Brumby who has remained silent on the damaging stand-off between management and elite scientific staff and advisers.

Federal Science Minister Kim Carr is said to be fuming and yesterday there was speculation Canberra was considering a takeover of the facility, Australia's greatest scientific investment.

With scientists and engineers working nine to five, refusing to otherwise assist or repair breakdowns in the ''beamline'' laboratories that run off the massive particle accelerator ring, the facility will quickly be rendered unmanageable.

The crisis could not come at a worse time; at risk is $40 million in Federal Government funding.

The board must lodge its application for the money by December 8, and now must do so without input from its own scientific experts.

The cash is needed to fund the day-to-day operation of the Clayton-based synchrotron, Australia's largest and most expensive research facility.

Adding to management's woes, doctors have ordered company secretary Lyndon Goulding to go on stress leave.

Relations between the board of management - led by chairwoman Catherine Walter - and scientific advisors and staff have broken down since the abrupt dismissal last month of managing director Professor Robert Lamb.

It is two weeks since the scientific advisory committee notified the Government of its intention to resign if the board of management was not sacked.

Their warning has been ignored.

Professor Lamb's dismissal highlighted a cultural clash between corporate managers with little or no knowledge of synchrotron radiation and scientific experts who accuse them of a lack of proper governance.

The fiasco has become an international embarrassment and while it continues, Professor Larkins warned, ''considerable reputational damage'' would be inflicted on ''Australia's science management capability for large science projects''.